


The Ides of March

by TheBannedAuthor



Category: The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (Comics)
Genre: Ancient Rome, Gen, Multi, References to Shakespeare, References to The Godfather, Slow Burn, also this is mainly comics based!, cursing, different though, like probably not gonna happen for /years/, like wicked slow burn, references to goonies, references to julius caesar, references to twilight zone, slow burn i guess you would say?, yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah another negan/oc fic, you know cause negan and saviors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-04
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2018-11-09 03:40:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11096136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBannedAuthor/pseuds/TheBannedAuthor
Summary: Dwight’s head snapped up. He’d forgotten about the newbies.Shit. The four of them were still on their feet. Goddammit, Negan was gonna see them standing there with those dumb fuck looks on their faces and he was gonna get the wrap for it. But before he could say anything (curse them out for being fucking idiots even though it was he himself who’d forgot) one of the men knelt on the floor. He quirked a dry smile at the other three, giving them a slight shrug, “When in Rome.”





	1. Chapter One: Rule of Threes

_“Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear; seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come_ ”- William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar” (Act II, Scene 2)

 

In the beginning, he was alone, though it hardly bothered him.

Everyone else had packed up their belongings and left for the cities where the National Guard were setting up refugee centers; or they had gone back to their families, seeking the safety of home in this time of uncertainty. But he didn’t leave because, well, he didn’t have anywhere else to go. He didn’t have family he was close to or any friends nearby. When the university had closed and the phone lines went down he lost contact with everyone. The news reports were all saying to stay inside your home so that’s exactly what he did. Since he couldn’t go to the university or back to his job at the library, he locked himself down in his apartment. He lived off ramen noodles, Campbell’s soup, and scrambled eggs on toast (the only three things he knew how to cook on the gas stovetop). He’d spend his days working on his thesis paper (“The Divinity of the Roman Emperor and the Imperial Cult”) reading the same five books he’d taken out of the library before it closed, and playing Super Mario Bros on his Gameboy (a device with a perpetually long battery life). When the lights went out he dug out a cordless lantern- one he’d bought for a camping trip he’d never been on.

At night while he tried to sleep, he’d sometimes hear the moans of the dead from the outside. Though he was on the second floor of the apartment complex, he locked all the doors and kept a bat by his bedside as a precaution. He knew he should be afraid of them, but he wasn’t. He didn’t know why, but to him they were more of an inconvenience than a fear. If anything, they kept him from getting a full night of sleep.

All in all, he wasn’t complaining. He was used to being alone, he’d been so most of his life. It was almost peaceful, having all the time in the world to just read and do as he pleased. It was like a good ending to that Twilight Zone episode, if the man’s glasses hadn’t been crushed. Come to think of it, that was set during an apocalypse too, with the man being the last human left alive. He could have been the last man on earth for all he knew.

Three weeks later and the National Guard started to evacuate, unable to eliminate the growing population of the walking dead. They found him in his apartment, reading Tolstoy’s _War and Peace_. He didn’t resist when they told him he had to leave, although he wasn’t as relieved as others had been to see them. He understood they were moving him “for his own good” (because gathering a bunch of frightened refugees together is a _great_ decision), but he’d liked his alone time. He wasn’t ready for what waited outside for him- the dead, the living, the choices he’d have to make to stay alive and what would result from those choices.

But even so, he packed up his clothing, his books, and a couple photos of his family he hadn’t seen in months and went with them. Even though he had two National Guardsman with him, there were a few close calls when he came face to face with the dead. He’d only ever seen them on TV but even then, they hadn’t seemed real. A dead woman in a nightgown and robe threw herself at him, teeth inches away from his cheek and for the first time he was afraid. It wasn’t like on TV- she was _real_. A real monster had her rotting hands on him, chomping at the air as he tried to push her away from him. He looked directly into her eyes and saw nothing but grey, no spark of life whatsoever. And he thought to himself _this is it. This is how I die._ He would die at the hands of the inconvenience that kept him awake at night with only two nameless men as company.

He had been so stunned he hadn’t even worked up the courage to scream yet. Luckily, one of the guard saw his dilemma and ran back for him. The guard pulled her off him and the other put a bullet through her head. He couldn’t stop thinking about her as they moved along; how had she died? Had she been in pain? Did they have to kill her? He had so many questions but he couldn’t find the words. He doubted the two men with him would be keen to answer them.

They loaded him up into a truck with a few other survivors they had found. Survivors… he hadn’t been aware he was surviving. He’d been hiding behind locked doors, ignoring what was happening on the outside. But he couldn’t ignore it any longer. He knew he wasn’t brave but he didn’t have to be so afraid he’d lock himself away again. Though the first time he hadn’t secluded himself out of fear.

There were five other refugees beside himself. A family of four, and a lone woman like himself, cupping her hands in front of her mouth like she was using her breath to warm them. The family of four huddled together at the back of the truck leaving him and the other woman sitting beside each other. She was about the same age as him, maybe younger, and same height. Hair black like his but hers was straight while his grew out in curls. Her eyes were different though, a dark blue while his own were brown. When he got closer he could see that she was holding what looked to be a dog’s collar in her hands.

He knew the story in an instant without her having to tell him. He wanted to tell her he was sorry, but he thought that would be a little presumptuous so he settled on, “Hi.”

She looked over at him, narrowing her eyes, “Hi?”

He gave her a nervous grin, tapping his foot, gripping the bench they were sitting on. “I’m uh… I wanted to say I was sorry but I panicked so….”

“Sorry for what?”

“Well,” He looked at the collar in her hands, “You know.”

“…oh.” She pursed her lips, nodding, and “Thank you.” Her voice was monotone, empty. She had nothing left.

“…what was his name?”

“Why do you want to know?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. You just seem… like you need someone to talk to.”

“I don’t.” She turned away from him, her tone suggesting she wanted this conversation to end.

“Okay then.” He licked his lips, looking at her. He wondered what it felt like to lose something- someone- you cared about. For all he knew his family was dead but he didn’t feel any loss there. Might have been because he hadn’t had a real family in quite a long time. Seeing this woman with a dog’s collar, practically kissing it, made him realize how much he was missing while he was alone.

He cleared his throat, “Let me rephrase that. You seem like you need someone to talk to… and so do I. I was alone, for a while and it’s- it’s strange to have other people around. I’m trying to see if I can do normal conversation, although this is nowhere near normal but it’ll have to do. So uh, how’m I doing?”

“Not so good.” She wasn’t looking at him but he did see the corner of her mouth raise. He felt a surge of pride, smiling a bit himself.

“Oh… well then let me start over.” He held out his hand, “Hi, my name is Eli. What’s yours?”

 She hesitated a moment, scanning his face with her eyes, before she answered him. “Maureen.” She shook his hand. “And _her_ name was Sadie.”

“I’m sorry about Sadie. It’s good to meet you Maureen.”

“It’s good to meet you too Eli.”

* * *

 

“Eli.” His head snapped up when Maureen spoke. She stood up in front of him, hands on her hips, “Can I see the map?”

“Yeah.” Eli shook himself out of his daze, standing up and taking the map out of his back pocket. “Not gonna do much good without knowing where the road is.”

She took the map from him, studying it with a frown, “Are you all right? You seem out of it.”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Eli took his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Just tired. And hot. And thirsty.”

“Aren’t we all?” Maureen crouched down, spreading the map out on the forest floor. “Okay, so we were camped on I-30 but then we backtracked through this area, right? And then we found the river and tried to follow it but we got cut off by roamers. So, we _must_ have taken this path here-”

“Wrong.” Reese’s voice cut her off. He was sitting against a tree, scratching at the bandage on his neck. Reese was a mechanic they’d come across while still with the guard. He was shorter than both Eli and Maureen but stocky, calluses worn deep into his hands from a lifetime of working. Both his beard and hair had the same sandy coloring to them, much longer from when they’d met him. He had been injured in a fire that had taken the camp they’d been staying in for a few weeks- he’d been trying to pull supplies out of one of the tents when it collapsed on him. “We followed the river and _then_ backtracked. That was when Jaime thought she saw those guys on motorcycles.”

“I _did_ see those guys on motorcycles.” Jaime said. The youngest of the group, Jaime had been on track to becoming an Olympic medalist in gymnastics (with ambitions to be the first African American woman to win gold in the all-around). They found her by herself after the National Guard left them stranded in Georgia, with nothing to her name but a small backpack and a knife with dried bloodstains on it. Jaime said she was eighteen- maybe over at this point- but she didn’t look older than fifteen. She stood up, walking over to Maureen, “And they definitely went east _away_ from the river.”

“Wait wait, which river are we talking about?” Eli asked, squinting at the map.

Jaime rolled her eyes, “There’s only _one_ river Eli. Put your glasses back on.”

“Well _excuse_ me Miss I Know Everything And I Have Perfect Vision Too.”

“Knock it off you two.” Maureen said, standing up, “And Reese quit scratching at that or it’s not gonna heal.”

“But it itches!”

“Then chew on bark or something to distract yourself.” Maureen bent down, lifting part of the bandage to check the wound. “We don’t have any anti-biotics if it gets infected.”

Reese grimaced, “If I start chewing on the bark I’ll end up eating it. Do we have any food left?”

“Yes, some.” Maureen said, changing the subject, “Eli, can you try to find us a path to get us back to the road?”

Eli put his glasses back on, “Give me five minutes, I think I can come up with something.”

Jaime turned to Maureen, “I can go on ahead, climb up a tree to see if I can find the road.”

“Yeah _great_ idea.” Reese’s tone dripped with disdain, “Split up again, that’s always worked out for us.”

Jaime gave him a look, “We wouldn’t be splitting up. Maureen, I can do this.”

Maureen pressed her lips together, looking at Eli for a moment. None of them liked the idea of Jaime going off on her own, since she was the youngest of the group. But the teenager seemed intent on proving herself and her survival skills.

“I think she’ll be okay.” Eli said, “If she climbs a tree she’ll be out of reach of roamers at least.”

Maureen didn’t seem to like it but she nodded, “Don’t go too far. Call if you need help.”

Jaime tried to hold back a grin and failed. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” She scooped up her pack, jogging between the trees, “Be back soon as I find something!” She called over her shoulder.

Reese glanced at Maureen, raising an eyebrow, “You sure this is a good idea?”

Maureen took her time to answer, watching Jaime’s retreating figure with evident worry, “… she’ll be fine.” She grabbed her backpack, unzipping it. “Here, eat this.” She handed him a granola bar, standing up. “How’s it coming on that map Eli?”

“It’s coming.” He assured her, “I think I can get us back to the road. We just need to go east.”

East again. Maureen closed her eyes for a second, feeling sweat drip down the back of her neck. Just keep going east.

* * *

 

With Jaime scouting ahead and Eli keeping an eye on the map, the group of four managed to find their way back to the road the next day. However, despite Maureen keeping a close eye on it, their water supply had dwindled down to dangerous levels. They had enough that, if they rationed it, they’d have water for maybe another week.

“Not much food left either.” Eli said, after going through all their packs and doing inventory.

“ _Goddammit_ -“ Maureen hissed. They were off to the side while Reese worked on a truck on the side of the road. Jaime was with him, helping him lift the hood so he could check the engine. She slapped a tree with the palm of her hand, cussing again and holding it. “We just cannot catch a fucking break.”

“Hey take it easy.” Eli knew Maureen sometimes lost her temper but he didn’t want her to injure herself over it. He took her hand, taking care to be extra gentle with her. He examined her palm, “We’re all dehydrated and hot but we can get through this.”

“Yeah.” Maureen didn’t sound convinced. But she let him look her hand over, even though she could see she hadn’t broken the skin. “That’s what I keep telling them… but god I believe it less and less each day.”

“Hey, don’t do that. We gotta believe it’ll get better.” Eli rubbed his thumb in circles on her palm, trying to soothe her any way he could. “Remember, rule of threes. You can’t last three seconds without hope, three minutes without air-“

“And three days without water, I know.” Maureen sighed, “Why is it me anyway? I don’t know what I’m doing-“

“Yes you do.”  Eli closed her hand, “ _I_ believe in you Maureen. We all do. You’ll get us through this.”

Maureen took her hand back, lowering her eyes. “Three seconds.” She closed her eyes. “One.”

“Two-”

The sound of the engine starting up broke both of them out of their reverie. They both looked to see Reese and Jaime high-fiving and yelling for them to come over.

“See, told you.” Eli gave Maureen a grin, picking up his backpack. “Rule of threes.”

* * *

 

The truck lasted another three days (“Looks like three’s our magic number.” Eli told Maureen later on) before it died but by then Eli had seen enough road signs to point them in the right direction. It had been his idea to try for Washington D.C. “If there’s anything out there, any remnant of civilization it would be in Washington.” He had said the night after their camp had burned.

“It’s far.” Maureen told him. “And with no car, no provisions-“

“We have a map.”

“It’s been a year, maybe more. We don’t know if anything’s there.”

“We have to try.” Eli spoke low, leaning toward her so he could appeal to her. “You’re right we have nothing else. But with Washington, at least we have a destination. A reason to keep going.”

The others had agreed and they’d started out in the morning. Now without the protection of the truck they were open to roamer attacks. Each of them carried a knife on them at all times. Maureen had a rifle and Reese carried a hand gun but both were low on ammo. By then the water was nearly gone and Reese had developed a fever.

“It’s infected, isn’t it?” He asked Maureen when she next checked his bandage. She bit her lip, seeing the skin around the burn had turned purple. “No.” She lied, reattaching the bandage. “Probably just a cold.”

“If he thinks it’s infected he’ll try to do something noble and stupid like tell us to leave him behind.” Maureen told Eli later that night while Jaime and Reese slept. She shook her head, “I can’t let him just give up.” She looked up and frowned when she saw Eli smiling at her. “What?”

Eli shrugged, “Oh you just lied to one of your friends to keep him hoping. So, _someone_ was listening to my little spiel the other day.”

She rolled her eyes, punching his shoulder lightly, “Go to sleep, I got this watch.”

A day later Eli started to worry that Maureen had stopped sleeping. He’d go to sleep after she relieved him from his watch and he’d when he woke up she’d already be awake, pacing up and down the forest floor. They still made camp in the forest but they walked along the open road, hoping to see a town or river or a water tower or _something_. After hearing her plead for an hour, Maureen sent Jaime on ahead during the morning and sometimes she wouldn’t come back until the middle of the night.

“She’s a kid. She’s trying to prove herself to Maureen.” Reese told Eli while they were sitting on the road. The girls had both gone back into the forest to look for water.

“She is a kid. But kids are a lot smarter than we think they are.” Although Eli was also worried Jaime. If anyone was the heart, the hope, of their little group it was her. If Jaime never came back one day that might be the thing that finally broke them.

And one day Jaime didn’t come back. Eli woke up in the middle of the night to see Maureen checking on Reese. She had her hand pressed to his forehead and Eli could see he was shivering. “Fever hasn’t broken yet.” She said. She grabbed a half empty water bottle from her backpack, holding it to Reese’s lips. “Drink.”

“You should just leave me behind.” Reese mumbled, his eyes still shut.

Maureen shook her head, “Not an option Reese.”

“I’m only slowing you down.”

“Hey, if my people could make it through the desert to the Promised Land then _we_ can make it through the backwoods of Virginia.”

Maureen tried hard not to roll her eyes at him, “Eli is right, you’ll be _fine_.”

Reese mumbled something Eli didn’t quite catch, slipping off into sleep. Maureen sat back, “You thirsty?”

“No I’m okay.” Eli looked around, “Where’s Jaime?”

He felt a lump in his throat when Maureen shook her head. “Not back yet… if she’s not back in the morning I’m going out to look for her. You and Reese will keep going on your own.”

“No.” The force in Eli’s voice surprised him as well as her. “No I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Yes you are.” She looked up at him. “Rule of threes. If I can’t find her in three days I _will_ find my way back to you.”

Eli didn’t sleep the rest of the night. She said she’d find him in three days if Jaime didn’t come back but he knew there was a possibility she wouldn’t come back either. And if he couldn’t save Reese, he’d be alone again. He had survived (if you can call it surviving) on his own from the start, but now he’d finally found something. Hell, he’d even call it a family at this point. He wouldn’t go back to being alone. Not ever again.

* * *

 

Maureen saw them out to the road, her backpack slung across her shoulders. Jaime hadn’t returned in the morning and they feared the worst. She had to go look for her. Jaime was someone she was responsible for, she couldn’t fail her now.

Reese had an arm over Eli’s shoulder, his face pale, his fever still raging. Eli stared at Maureen, not wanting her to go, not knowing what to say. But they didn’t have to say anything.

Maureen cleared her throat, opening her mouth when there was a shout. “HEY YOU GUYS!”

And it was Jaime- like right out of a scene from a Spielberg movie- waving at them with both arms as she ran down the road. “Finally! I’ve been looking for you guys _for-freaking-ever_!”

“Where the hell have you been?” Maureen sounded outraged but she immediately had her arms in a hug around Jaime. She stifled a sob, so relieved to have her back.

Eli hugged Jaime next and then Reese, who had started smiling again for the first time in two days. “You little Spider-Monkey. You took too fucking long, don’t ever do that again.”

“I know I know. But I got lost so I backtracked and came back to the road and just started running.” None of them had noticed how hard Jaime was breathing. She put her hands on her knees, inhaling and exhaling, “You got- any water? I’m out.”

Maureen took the nearly empty water bottle out of her bag, handing it to Jaime. Jaime took a sip before starting to speak. “Oh my god guys I found something. _I found something_.”

“What? A river?”

“Better.” Jaime’s eyes glinted in the sun, and she started grinning, “I saw those guys on motorcycles again and I _followed_ them. There’s like this factory where they live- a lot of people live. I saw women and kids- and they have defenses against the roamers. And I bet they have medicine and water and food-“

“Jaime.” Reese was still leaning on Eli, but now he seemed healthier than he had in days. “You are _awesome_. Where is this place?”

“I can take you right there.” She looked at Maureen, “They’ll let us in if we talk to them, right?”

Maureen was chewing on her lip, her smile gone. They’d run across big groups before but nothing that ever sounded like this. She knew though that not everyone who was still alive had hearts of gold. Just because there were women and children did not mean this group would let them join or would even be a safe place for them.

“It’s worth a shot.” Eli said, breaking the silence. “…we gotta at least try.”

Maureen’s eyes flitted to him for half a second and she nodded, “You’re right. At least we’ll check them out first. See if they’re the kind of people who take in strangers.”

* * *

 

Even with Jaime’s directions, it took them another day to find the community. There was a suburban neighborhood that led right up the street to the compound. The gate was open but there were… things strung up around the entrance, dangling from ropes, pushed onto spikes, or tied to wooden poles.

“Are those… roamers?” Jaime asked, as they hid behind one of the houses.

Eli looked to the side, “Yup. Looks like they’ve been strung up. Some kind of defense.”

“Or a warning.” Reese added.

Maureen chewed her lip, “This path leads right to the front gate.” She nodded to herself, “We’ll take the long way around. Better we see them first than them see us.”

They went back down the road, cutting through the forest on the outer edges. They ended up behind a barbed wire fence, hidden by the trees surrounding them. There were a few smaller buildings surrounding the factory, remnants of what used to be administrative centers and the like.

Even with his poor vision, Eli could see figures going in and out of the buildings. They moved faster than roamers would and by his count, he estimated there were at least a dozen people on the outside. And there had to be more inside.

“Hey,” Jaime spoke up, pointing to one of the buildings. Eli squinted, managing to see a couple moving blurs on top of the buildings. “Lookouts. Think they can see us?”

Maureen shook her head, “Can’t be certain but possibly not. They must be there in case of roamers.”

“Or they’re expecting an attack.” Reese mused, leaning against a try and wiping the sweat off his forehead. The search for the community seemed to have reinvigorated him, at least for the time being.

“Right….” Maureen straightened up, “You and Eli stay here. Jaime and I will take a walk around. Make sure there’s a way out in case we need to make a quick getaway.”

“We might not need it.”

Maureen met Eli’s eyes, “We don’t know what we’ll find in there. Best to be cautious. Reese how many bullets you got left?”

Reese unloaded the cartridge of his pistol, frowning, “Six.”

“Gonna have to be enough.” She slung her backpack off her shoulders, moving the rifle strap off her shoulder so she could hold the gun in front of her. “If there are lookouts, there’ll be a patrol. Be careful.”

“You too.” Eli heard a low growl, a roamer stumbling into their path. Jaime stood up, taking the knife out from the back of her belt. “I’ve got it.” She said, easing herself over tree roots toward the roamer. Before she reached it though, another roamer emerged from behind the trees, snatching her shoulders.

Eli heard Jaime shriek in surprise and he ran toward her as she tripped, falling on her back. The roamer fell forward on top of her, almost taking a bite out of her nose but she managed to hold it up by its chest. Eli grabbed the back of its shirt, pulling it off Jaime and stabbing his knife down into its head- the knife sticking into its cranium. Jaime scooted back as he tossed it to the side, dodging out of the way as the other roamer grabbed at him. Jaime leapt to her feet and in one fluid motion she stuck her knife through the back of the roamers head, pushing it down.

Maureen and Reese were shouting at him, trying to warn him as he heard more snarls from all around him. Roamers appeared from all directions, attracted by Jaime’s shriek and the ensuing scuffle. Jaime pulled him back, moving them toward the other two. “Why’re there so many?”

“I don’t know-“ Maureen slung the rifle back over her shoulder, taking her machete out from its holster. Reese grabbed his pistol, aiming into the crowd but Maureen shouted at him, “No save the bullets it’ll just attract more!”

More than a dozen roamers surrounded them on all sides. Eli was back to back with Maureen, weaponless. He couldn’t get to his knife without having to go through at least six roamers. How had they not noticed all of them? Had they been so distracted by a possible refuge they’d completely missed the danger surrounding them?

“Shit!” Maureen slashed at one of the roamers, slicing down the center of its skull and pulling the machete out. “This way!” She took down another roamer, making a beeline for the momentary clear path she’d created. The others ran after her, Eli taking the rear, looking over his shoulder to see the roamers staggering after them.

“Let’s go, we can outrun them!” Maureen stopped, letting Reese and Jaime go in front of her. “Eli c’mon!” Eli forced himself to speed up, praying he wouldn’t trip and fall on his face. Reese stopped in his tracks, backing up into Jaime as three more roamers headed right for them. “Shitfuck-“

“There’s too many!” Jaime, gripped Reese’s arm, looking around. “Where’s Maureen?”

Eli spun around, not seeing her. His heart leapt into his throat. “Maureen? MAUREEN!”

“Keep going!” Maureen leapt out from behind a tree, pushing a roamer away from him. “Don’t stop! I’m right behind you!”

“Where?” Jaime gestured around, “They’re everywhere!”

“Motherfuck-“ Maureen looked up, “Trees! You and Eli climb the trees. Reese and I will hold them off until you’re high enough.” Reese looked like he was about to keel over though. He shook his head, “No you go up too. I’ll stay down here!”

“No I can’t just let you-“

“This isn’t a fucking debate!”

“Guys!” Jaime’s eyes widened. “Wait there’s someone-“

“GET THE FUCK DOWN!”

Eli heard Maureen gasp beside him and she dragged him down the ground, covering her head with her arms. He managed to get his arms up over his head before the rapid gunfire started. Eli closed his eyes, gritting his teeth, the racket ringing in his ears. When the noise stopped, he opened his eyes, raising his head up a bit. The roamers around them had been blown to pieces. He looked to the side, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Reese and Jaime were on the ground next to him. Reese looked up, staring ahead, “What the….”

Two men holding assault rifles stood in front of them, their weapons lowered now that the roamers were all dead. Maureen was the first to sit up, looking up at the men, “Who the hell are you?”

The men exchanged a look and one of them smirked, “Well, isn’t obvious? We’re your Saviors.” He leaned down, so he was face to face with her. “And lady, this is the luckiest day of your goddamn life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this was born out of the idea for a one-shot, since those are basically the only things I write. I was going to make what you saw in the summary part of the first chapter and then the first chapter got WICKED long so I had to split them up but it all worked out in the end. Before you gone onto the next chapter I should make a few things clear:
> 
> 1) This is going to be /comics-based/. Believe me I would LOVE to put this in the TV-verse but it's mostly to save myself the headache of not having to fit in their own twists and avoid having certain original characters steal this work ( I won't say their names but their initials are DD and TC).
> 
> 2) Dwight is going to be a major part of this story- especially later on. I love how Austin Amelio portrays him in the TV series but his character in the comics is more workable for the sake of this story.
> 
> 3) Those of you here for Negan are gonna have to wait. He is in the next chapter but only a bit, though he is the main focus of chapter three (I should mention I've already written 4 1/2 chapters so those are getting posted whether you guys like it or not). And yeah there is some Negan/OC in it but not the way you'd think... it'll make sense later on.
> 
> 4) This story heavily features original characters and not just the four mains. I have a whole ensemble already planned out and I gotta say, they kick ass. If you don't like OC's then this isn't the story for you. It's selfish but I'm mainly writing this story for myself anyway.
> 
> 5) To follow that up, I know this story is not gonna get a lot of attention but I /need/ to do this. I need to prove to myself I can actually follow through with a story. I don't care if takes years or even decades- this story will be finished. I used to not know the ending either, but now I think I do. I set the chapter limit at 50 but it might go over.
> 
> Thank you all for reading! I really do appreciate anyone who makes time to take a look at this. Also I'd like to thank thatsparrow for reading some of my earlier drafts! I should have probably asked her advice before posting this but I'm impulsive and excited. Also you should really check out her stories as well (she's got an awesome slow-burn Negan/OC story, best I've ever read).
> 
> Yikes that was long- onto the next chapter!


	2. Chapter Two: Conversion

When Dwight woke up the morning after his punishment, he had gone completely blind. At first he thought he was just dreaming but when he tried to rub his eyes he felt bandages over the left side of his face. The memory of the day before came rushing back to him- Negan finding out about him and Sherry, being dragged in front of the entire Sanctuary, the heat of the iron when Negan held it near his face. Sherry’s eyes shining as she watched while Negan pressed the iron to his face and the pain- the _pain-_ and he’d screamed but there was still pain even when the iron was removed there was still _pain_ -

And Dwight began to scream again, not from the memory but from the unending darkness around him. He was _blind- he was FUCKING BLIND_. He tore off the bandages, thrashing around on the gurney. He felt hands on him, trying to push him back down. He fought and he screamed and he cried- _fuck_ did he cry. _He was motherfucking blind, that bastard had FUCKING BLINDED HIM-_

They ended up having to tie him down, restraining his wrists and ankles in the straps on the gurney. Dwight continued to scream until his throat was sore. He felt wetness on his face; the only evidence that at least one of his eyes was still in his head was from the tears that’d been shed.

There were comforting words for him afterward. No one to hold his hand and tell him that he would be okay- though he wouldn’t believe them anyway. When he’d calmed down enough the doctor told him his blindness was only temporary. “It’s called a conversion disorder- in your case hysterical blindness.”

“Will I be able to see again?”

“You should. It’s all psychological- it’s in your head.”

Dwight let out a dry huff of a laugh. “So I’m going insane.”

“Depends how you define insane. I’d say the way you’re reacting is completely logical. Conversion disorders are caused by traumatic events. And what you’ve experienced is certainly traumatic. Although,” The doctor paused. Dwight couldn’t see his facial expression but he sounded troubled. “I am worried about the damage to your eye where the burn is. If you don’t regain sight back in your left eye soon, we may have to remove it.”

Dwight was laid up in the hospital for a week afterward. His sight did return, in both eyes. But he wasn’t sure if there was anything worth seeing anymore. The doctor, a man named Harding, was in daily to change the bandages on the burn. “I’ll say this,” Harding stated one day, applying a cool cloth to his face, “You’re gonna have one hell of a scar.”

Dwight had a general distrust of hospitals and doctors and all that medical crap in general, but he liked Harding. The doctor didn’t bullshit him, didn’t try to brighten the situation. Didn’t try to keep up conversation if Dwight didn’t feel like talking. But he did talk- eventually. Harding was the only one he could talk to, as he didn’t have any visitors.

Not even Sherry came to visit him. There was no way she could of course. Negan probably had her locked down tighter than a chastity belt, but chastity was the _furthest_ thing from his mind. Dwight realized he didn’t want her there. He didn’t want her to see him like this. And he blamed her too- if she’d just left Negan none of this would have fucking happened.

Did he even love her anymore? Could she love him after what happened to him? Could he love her after what she did to him?

When he was released he wore his bandages over the burn. But after a few days he tore them off. People were staring anyway, who cared what they stared at? The burn gave him a menacing look he decided to adopt. He looked like a freak, a monster- _fucking fine_ he would _be_ a monster then.

He was angry all the time. Angry at Negan for mutilating him, angry at Harding for not saving him, angry at Sherry for abandoning him. Angry at himself. Because he had been weak. He had been weak before and it had ruined his face. But he wouldn’t be weak anymore.

Dwight went on runs with the Saviors. They found groups they’d either bring in or eliminate. He didn’t protest anymore. He participated. He killed dozens of people without remorse. He was ruthless, he was brutal, he was… strong. The other Saviors began to defer to him, to his natural leadership. Even Negan saw the change in him. He promoted him and soon Dwight was a part of Negan’s inner circle. He had come far in the community but he also knew that wasn’t the only reason Negan kept him close. He tried to avoid the wives’ rooms as much as he could but that didn’t stop Negan from rubbing Sherry right in his face.

One day when he was coming back from a run, he saw her. Sherry was with Negan and he was pulling her up the stairs, dragging her back to his room no doubt. She turned and stopped when she spotted him at the bottom of the stairs. Dwight looked up at her, his face an unfeeling mask, his mouth in a grimace.

Negan put an arm around her waist and fucking winked at him, turning her away. When Sherry looked back again, Dwight was already gone.

And he just didn’t care. He didn’t feel a goddamn thing.

* * *

 

“Dwight you in there?”

Figures when he’d just unbuckled his pants someone would be knocking on the bathroom door. “No!”

More knocking, “Dwight!”

“Fucking hold on!” He redid the belt buckle, muttering to himself, “Guy can’t fucking piss in peace….” He moved toward the door, pounding coming from the other side. “Fuck- I’m coming!”

Dwight opened his door, “What the fuck, Carson? This couldn’t wait five minutes?”

“Sorry.” As usual, Carson didn’t seem very sorry. He adjusted his glasses, “But yeah it can’t wait.”

Dwight sighed, pushing past him as he walked down the hallway, “What happened?”

“Patrol ran into a horde. They took it down but they found four survivors.”

“So?”

“They’re at the front gate with them.”

Dwight stopped in front of the door to the stairwell, training his eyes on Carson, “Fucking what?”

“You heard me the first time.”

Dwight rubbed his face, “Let me get this straight. They just decided to fuck all protocol and bring four strangers to our front door?”

Carson gave him a nonchalant shrug, “That’s about the size of it.”

Sometimes he wanted to punch Carson in his face. The bastard was a hard worker but his dry sense of humor got on Dwight’s nerves. He ignored the temptation for now, opening the doorway and going down the stairs. “Who was on the patrol anyway?”

“Trevor and Jacobs.”

“Were any of ‘em girls?”

“Yep.”

“That explains it.”

“One of them’s a teenager.”

Dwight missed a step and he clutched onto the rail to prevent himself from falling. “Fucking shit-“ He turned to Carson, his injured eye bulging. “How old?”

“Not sure. She looks barely fourteen.”

“Christ….” He was _so_ not in the mood for this. Finding a place for four more survivors was one thing but when one of them was a _kid_ ….

Dwight shook his head. This wasn’t his problem. He’d have someone else sort that shit out. What he had to do now was decide whether to let them in or reject them before nightfall.

And when Negan returned, Dwight knew he’d want to have his own say.

Dwight made his way through the factory floor, going up the stairs toward the main doors, Carson right on his heels. He pushed open the double doors, walking outside. He saw the patrol men at the front gate, the four survivors standing in the entrance. They were all shifting around, nervous; by either the patrol, the roped up rotters, the unease of the entire situation. As he moved closer he could see there were two men and two women and- fuck- one of them was a teenage girl. She was the first to notice him, looking away from undead bodies around her. Dwight thought she seemed familiar in a way- the way she held her shoulders back and the almost arrogant raise of her chin. She reminded him of someone… someone from a long time ago.

He approached the group stopping about two feet away from them, observing the other three. One man had glasses and a crooked nose; the other had long blonde hair with a bandage on his neck. He had his arm around the man with glasses, but it was for support not comfort. His injury must have been worse than it looked. The last was a woman was dark-haired and tall, holding a rifle at her side. She still looked nervous but when she saw him she straightened up, holding her gaze unwavering on him- he was almost taken aback by the intense blue of her eyes.

“Found them in the woods surrounded by roamers.” Trevor said, shrugging with a blissful ignorance of what a shit-storm he’d caused. “Figured we could take ‘em in. We could always use more workers-“

“Trevor.” Dwight interrupted, training his bad eye on him, “You better shut your fucking trap right fucking now. I hear another word out of you, and you’re gonna get stuck in Ricardo’s outpost for a _month_.” Trevor closed his mouth, his eyebrows knitted together as he nodded. Trevor was, in Dwight’s opinion, lucky he hadn’t been shipped off to an outpost already. The only brain that asshole seemed to have was either shared with his partner Jacobs or down in his pants.

Dwight turned back to the newcomers, chewing the inside of his cheek before speaking. “First off, hand over your weapons.” The woman raised her eyebrows, not making any move to let go of the rifle. “That isn’t a suggestion. It’s a goddamn order. If you wanna get through today at all, you’ll hand over your fucking weapons.”

There was another moment of silence as he stared down the woman with the rifle. He’d pointed her out as the leader. Get her to break, the rest would fall in line.

“And what happens if we don’t?” She asked him, a hand on her hip very close to the handle of her machete. If it went down that way it would be her choice not his, he reasoned.

“You don’t get to ask those kinds of questions.” Dwight said, shrugging, “Our place. Our rules. Now, _give up your shit_.”

The woman pursed her lips and slipped the strap off her shoulder, holding the gun out. Dwight grabbed it, handing it to Carson. “Anything else?” With a reluctant exhale of breath, the woman unstrapped a holster holding the machete and handed it over. The others followed her, Four-Eyes and the teenager handing over their knives, and the blonde Hippie giving up a pistol. Dwight took the gun, unloading the cartridge and then looking back at them, “Got any extra ammo?”

“No.” The Ice Queen said, answering for the rest of them. “That’s the last of it.”

Dwight handed the gun to Trevor, mildly surprised they’d survived this long with so little to defend themselves with. “Now the packs. Hand them over.”

“… you can’t be serious.” The teenager gave him a skeptical look.

Dwight snarled, knowing it made a pretty unpleasant picture, “Do I look like I’m fucking joking with you?”

She was about to say something else when Ice Queen shushed her, “Jaime.” She said, a warning tone to her voice. “Do as he says.” She took the backpack off her shoulders, dropping it in front of her. Four-Eyes dropped his pack too and helped the other man get his off his back. The teen- Jaime- was the last to drop her pack tossing it right to his feet, clear resentment for the action in her motions.

Dwight knelt and opened the backpack. There was a box of granola bars and half a bottle of water in it, along with another pair of clothing, some cloth and rope for a hammock, and a picture of her with an older couple that must have been her grandparents. Dwight squinted, looking at who must have been her grandfather in the picture. There was something familiar about his face as well…

He left the picture and the clothing, taking out what little food and drink she had and the hammock. He held up the bottle of water. “These aren’t yours anymore. Now they are property of the Sanctuary and Negan.”

He handed the items to Carson and Jacobs. “If you wanna live here with us, means you forfeit all supplies we can use. And if you wanna leave at any time, you don’t get them back. Whatever you take or want, you have to _work_ for. Got it?”

He looked from the teenager to Ice Queen. “ _Got it?_ ” Ice Queen nodded, flicking her eyes for a moment to Four-Eyes and then back to him.

Dwight and the others searched through the other packs, finding supplies similar to Jaime’s- two more water bottles, dry rice and noodles, sleeping bags, some spare bandages, and a dog collar (from Ice Queen’s bag).

Dwight zipped up one of the bags, “You can keep your clothes, bags, and personal belongings. Everything else is ours now.” Not much, but it was procedure. He walked up to Ice Queen, handing her back the bag. “You got a camp?”

She shook her head, “We did a while back. With a group but then there was a fire- and roamers.”

Dwight nodded, understanding but not sympathetic. He jerked his head at the Hippie, “That how he got hurt?” She nodded. Dwight grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck, “We’ve got a doctor. If we let you in you can bring him down to the infirmary.”

He stepped back, putting his hands on his hips, “Here’s what you gotta know. If you wanna be a part of us, you gotta fucking follow the rules. And the rules are this:” He was aware of how much he sounded like Negan now, making him grimace even more, “You fucking work to earn your keep. You do not steal, especially from the main stockpile. You have a disagreement with another member you don’t fucking let it interrupt your productivity. Most of all you do whatever the fuck we say.” He gestured to himself, “And by ‘we’ I mean the Saviors. We’re your fucking leaders and the biggest leader of all isn’t here right now but his name is Negan and he is a _bad_ _motherfucker_. He will not hesitate to kick you to the curb or tear you a new one if you fucking set one fucking toe out of line. If you _ever_ meet Negan, you treat him with the utmost goddamn respect. More respect than you would give your mamas. And don’t even _think_ about fucking talking back. He will _shut that shit down_. He is not afraid to punish rule breakers so you better be ever so fucking careful not to fucking break them.”

Dwight tilted his head so they could clearly see his burn, a warning of what would happen if they dared break the rules. “Are we clear?”

The other three gave Ice Queen a cautious look, their expressions asking if this was still a good idea. Ice Queen only had eyes for him, perhaps to see if he was exaggerating or just trying to scare them. Though her face remained neutral he saw the fingers of her left-hand curl and uncurl from a fist- a nervous tick, giving her worry away. He almost thought she was going to tell them to leave but instead she nodded. “Yes.”

Dwight looked at the others and they all echoed her answer. “All right. Looks like we’re all set here.” He told Trevor and Jacobs to leave, turning to Carson, “Get all this shit to storage. We’ll figure out what to do with it later.”

He looked back at the group, gesturing for them to follow him. He opened the double doors to the factory, attempting to hold back a sigh. “Welcome to the Sanctuary.”

* * *

 

“We got two other buildings besides this one.” Dwight began, leading the four survivors to the first floor. “One is half a storage for our main stockpile and the other half we’ve turned into a garage. The other one is the Saviors barracks. But this main building is where all our workers stay.”

“Saviors?” Four-Eyes raised his eyebrows, like he was expecting a joke.

Dwight looked back at him, “You know the guys that saved you from being lunch meat. Yeah, they’re Saviors. Call us soldiers, thugs, or fucking guardian angels I don’t care. We protect this place, do most of the supply runs and set up the outposts. Just like you don’t wanna fuck with Negan, you don’t wanna fuck with any of us.” He made sure to emphasize the “us”, training his good eye on Four-Eyes. “You like mouthing off? Okay, but you might just find your teeth kicked in one day if you mouth off to the wrong person.”

Four-Eyes nodded, “Fine, message received.”

Dwight watched him another second, annoyed at how unconcerned he seemed. He moved on though, the idiot would understand soon enough.

It was just about the time the normal workday ended, so the factory floor was crowded with people trading their points for food. “This is mess-slash-dining hall, connects right to the common room. If you don’t get a room on the third or fourth floor, you’ll end up sleeping in there.”

“How many people are here?” Ice Queen asked, glancing over her shoulder. She was making sure she knew where all the exits were, Dwight realized, if they had to make a run for it.

 _Wouldn’t get far if you did, Ice Queen_.

Dwight rolled his eyes, “I don’t keep exact numbers but I’d say around fifty. More if you count the Saviors. Even more if you count the guys stationed at the outposts.” If the four survivors could look even more amazed than they had before now was the chance. There was a big difference between a group of misfits joining together on the road and a community of over fifty people.

“You keep all these people fed?”

“More or less. We got a stockpile, we ration… we go on supply runs regularly.” He glanced at them over his shoulder. “Out back we’ve got a garden where we grow fresh vegetables. If we grow enough before winter, we don’t have to go out as much for supplies.”

“Back there you said we’d have to work to earn our keep.” The teenager spoke up. Unlike the other three, she wasn’t looking around in awe. In fact, she hadn’t taken her eyes off him since he’d let them inside. He wondered if it was because of the scar. “The mouth-breather out there was starting to say the same thing too before you told him to shut up.”

Dwight puckered his lips to fight the smirk sneaking up on him. He nodded, “This place doesn’t just run on fairy dust and dreams. Everyone here’s got a job to do. You stay here, you’ll be placed in a job. Could be anywhere- working in the kitchens or garage, construction, out in the garden, laundry, metal working-“

“Patrols and supply runs too?” Ice Queen asked.

Dwight raised an eyebrow, “Those do count but not fucking likely. Saviors mostly cover patrols and even if we let civilians go on supply runs they gotta be trained first. We work on a points based system. Everything costs a certain amount of points. Food, clothes, yadda yadda. Some jobs get you less points. Some get you more.” He gestured to the tables- ranging from small coffee stools to tray tables to picnic benches- around them. “You can trade your points for goods here. Showers cost points as do visits to the infirmary, unless in emergency situations. Medicine is the most expensive but sometimes they’ll be selling it around here.”

Dwight neared the stairwell, “Down in the basement is where we keep the laundry and janitorial stuff. The infirmary is also down there. Second and third floors have workshops, supply rooms. Third and fourth are dorms, mostly families, couples. Saviors with a lot of cred can get a room to themselves there too. There’s some abandoned rooms here and there we sometimes use for storage. Fifth has a daycare for the little kids- we’ve got about a dozen so we can’t have them all running around here. Sixth floor has our armory, which is guarded 24/7. And the seventh is Negan’s suite.”

“Guy has an entire floor to himself?”

“Perks of being the leader I guess.” Four-Eyes responded to the teenager in a hushed tone, probably not wanting Dwight to hear.

He turned back to them, causing them all to halt in their steps. “You’re all free to go about the Sanctuary wherever you please- after your supervisor lets you out of your job. But Negan’s rooms and the barracks are _off fucking limits_. You do not go up to the seventh floor unless you are called up there and you goddamn hope you are never called up there. And if you decide to be an idiot and ignore my advice whatever you do _do fucking not_ go into his wives’ rooms or else.”

“Uh-“ The teenager held up a hand. “Excuse me. Wives? As in plural?”

Dwight rolled his eyes, “Yeah _plural_. Negan’s got five of them at my last count.”

She wrinkled her nose, “Gross.”

Dwight turned back around, fighting a smirk from her comment. “Just don’t let him hear you say that-“

“Excuse me.” Ice Queen spoke up, cutting off his next words.

Dwight froze again, looking back at her with his eyes narrowed. “What?”

“You said you had an infirmary.” Ice Queen asked, looking at the Hippie. He hadn’t said anything since they’d been brought inside, slumping against Four-Eyes’ shoulder. “Can you take us there first? I know it costs points, but this does count as an emergency.” She asked politely but her tone conveyed a demand. She wasn’t going to take no for an answer. An attitude like that was going to get her in trouble in this place.

Dwight gritted his teeth, turning back to her. “I don’t know if you were fucking listening back there, but you don’t get to make any fucking demands anymore.” He moved closer, getting up right in her face, forcing her to look up at him. “You’re in our house now- _his_ house now.”

Her eyes were wide but she didn’t back away from him, her jaw set in a line like she was challenging him. “Maureen.” Only when Four-Eyes spoke up did she back away, licking her lips, “Please.” She said, “He’s sick.”

“Say please again… and I’ll consider it.”

“Negan has returned!”

 _Great,_ well now they were Negan’s problem to deal with anyway. With a heavy sigh, Dwight eased himself down onto one knee, staring down at the ground like he’d done so many times before. He waited for the pair of black boots to pass in front of him, signaling he could stand back up and go back to business as usual. There was a chance Negan would want to talk to him but he’d call him later if he had to. Probably he’d have Sherry in the room with him to get some kind of rise out of-

Dwight’s head snapped up. He’d forgotten about the newbies.

 _Shit_. The four of them were still on their feet- looking at each other with “what the fuck is going on” faces. Goddammit, Negan was gonna see them standing there with those dumb fuck looks on their faces and _he_ was gonna get the wrap for it.

But before he could say anything (curse them out for being fucking idiots even though it was he himself who’d forgot) one of the men, Four-Eyes, knelt on the floor. He quirked a dry smile at the other three, giving them a slight shrug, “When in Rome.”

As far as Dwight could tell that meant “ _get on your fucking knees, we wanna fit in here_ ”. The other man followed his lead as did the teenager, both kneeling beside him. Ice Queen had her eyebrows raised in thought but she followed suit, watching as the man himself walked down the stairs.

For a moment, Dwight thought he didn’t notice. Negan walked down the stairs, speaking with Wade as he passed them- he was just gonna walk right past them. Dwight held his breath, hoping he hadn’t seen the pause before they had all gotten to their knees. Negan would want to know about the new survivors but for now he was in the clear.

But then Negan stopped in his tracks in front of Ice Queen. She was still looking up at him, her head tilted so she could get a good look at his face. _Look down you idiot_ , Dwight wanted to scream at her. _Curiosity killed the fucking cat don’t you fucking know that?_

For a second he hoped Negan would just move on but Dwight had no such luck. The bastard looked straight at her, a smile starting on his face. “And just who the fuck are you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dwight is such an interesting character to write. Didn't think I'd get in his head so easily but man I'm glad I did.
> 
> Next chapter probably won't be up for another week (just so I can put some finishing touches on it). Another thank you to thatsparrow for looking at this chapter too! Negan will feature heavily in the next chapter I promise as will one of the four OC's who hasn't been featured very much yet.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter Three: Say Something

The plane had only been in the air for a couple hours when their pilot announced they had to make an emergency landing.  When they landed on the tarmac in Atlanta, Jaime could see an ambulance waiting outside the window. The door opened and two EMT’s came on board, moving past her seat to the back of the plane where a man in a business suit had collapsed in the middle of the aisle.

“He was coughing up a storm when we came aboard.” Her grandfather said as they watched them wheel the man off on a stretcher. “Hope whatever it is isn’t catching.”

“It isn’t that kind of sick.” Another man sitting behind them said. He pointed at the EMT’s, “If he’s got that new virus then soon we’ll _all_ be infected.”

“Sir, there’s no need to panic.” One of the EMT’s addressed the passengers as the other two disembarked, “This isn’t even an outbreak scenario yet. If anyone’s showing symptoms they will be escorted immediately to a hospital. We have the situation completely under control.”

“‘Under control’, what a load.” The man whispered behind her when the EMT was out of earshot.

“What do you mean by that?” Her grandfather asked.

The man looked at him and then glanced out the window, “Haven’t any of you seen the news lately?”

The truth was, Jaime hadn’t. For the past week, she and her grandparents had been in Delaware for a gymnastics meet. They’d been cut off from the rest of the world, their only focus on her routine and scores (she got gold for balance beam but didn’t even place for her floor routine- she had a long way to go before the next Olympics). If it took long enough to get another flight they might have time to watch the TVs  in the lobby and see what they missed.

However, after the businessman was driven away the airport went into lockdown. Officials wanted to make sure no one else on the flight or in the airport at the time had been infected. Jaime and her grandparents were searched for any signs of infection and told to wait until the airport had been cleared. If everything went per procedure, they were told, the airport should be up and running in a few hours.

Two days later, the airport was still on lockdown . No one had been allowed to leave the entire time, not even the employees. The food vendors that were there overnight stayed open for the stranded passengers; but after two days of stale pretzels, greasy burgers, and chips and candy from vending machines, Jaime was craving a salad. Most people slept on the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room but after the first night, gift shops were raided in search of blankets and sleeping bags. Her grandfather, trying to keep everyone’s spirits up, found a book of mad libs- he’d walk around the airport asking strangers for a random noun or verb and would read the stories aloud at the end of the day to Jaime and the other children. Her grandmother preferred to spend her time either drawing in children’s coloring books or working through a book of crossword puzzles. Jaime helped her with the coloring- when she was bored to the point of tears- but she was too impatient to help solve the crosswords.

When questions were asked (“why can’t we leave?”, “what’s happening outside?”, “will we ever be able to go home?”), the officials could not give anyone a straight answer. To avoid a panic, the televisions were kept on all day so they could watch the news but the sound had gone out. All Jaime could see on the news were reports of a new disease, the CDC’s warnings to stay inside, videos of crowds rioting in cities where police fired on the sick people. Someone had brought in a portable radio but after a few hours of trying to find a signal TSA agents confiscated it.

“Go to sleep baby,” Her grandmother told her each night, “We’ll be back home soon.” Jaime slept on a bench in the observation deck, her grandparents making their bed on the floor beside her. On the third day, she woke up in the middle of the night while her grandparents slept. Instead of going back to sleep, Jaime stood up from the bench, wanting to explore . Her grandfather had warned her not to wander off but she reasoned she’d be back before they were awake.

Keeping her steps quiet, she snuck through the lobby where most of the other passengers were sleeping. She came upon a security guard’s station, a small TV turned on to a news report next to security monitors. The guard must have been in a hurry as they had left their walkie-talkie behind on the desk. Hearing her grandfather’s voice in her head, telling her to be good, she turned up the sound on the TV.

“ _-reports of this new unnamed disease has gone international and many airports both on foreign and US soil have been shut down to prevent the disease from spreading. In other news, many major cities such as Chicago and Houston_ _have put Martial Law into effect as a response to the riots. We now go live with our correspondent on scene in Chicago-_

Jaime turned back down the sound as she heard the crackle of the walkie-talkie. “ _Brooks- khrrkh- are you there? - krrrrrrrhk- Respond please respond!”_

Jaime picked up the walkie-talkie, looking up at the security screens, noticing on one of the screens that a mass had gathered behind one of the windows- pressing against the glass as the guards tried to hold them back. The window cracked and the guards started to run as dark figures spilled through the hole in the window. Were those… people?

The walkie crackled again. “ _KRRKRRRH- broken through! - krrrkh- west side entrance! Good god- KHRRRKH- THERE’S SO MANY OF THEM-“_ The voice cut off as the figures on the screen gathered around the security guards, piling on top of them. 

Jaime dropped the walkie and took off into a run as an alarm started to blare. She _had_ to get back to her grandparents.

The sound of the alarm must have woken up the other people in the airport, hearing shouts and cries as she ran into the atrium. Jaime tried to push through the crowd back toward the observation deck but was jolted around by the mob of people trying to escape. She called for her grandparents, not tall enough to see over the heads of people around her. She saw TSA agents dart toward one of the exits, shouting at people to move aside and was it her imagination or did the double doors look like they were being pushed open?

Suddenly the doors broke open and more bodies pressed into the room bowling over the TSA workers. At first she thought it was more frightened people to add to the crowd but then there were screams (screams Jaime had never heard before, not of fear but from excruciating, life-ending pain) from the workers as they were torn apart, their blood spraying onto the walls. There were more screams as the mob of people- _sick people, no, something more is wrong with them_ she thought to herself- clashed into the crowd in the atrium. Jaime could feel her heart racing and she turned to run with the rest of the crowd. She saw some of the living trip and fall to the ground but no one helped them and they were either grabbed by those _things_ or trampled by the rest of the throng. She surged ahead, strong athletic strides outpacing the throng, moving up the stairs to the observation deck. As she climbed the stairs the power went out and after a few moments the emergency lights came on. She found their sleeping bags still on the ground but no sign of her grandparents.

They must have gone looking for her, she realized with a gasp. Scooping up her backpack, Jaime ran back down the stairs. “ _MAMA! PAPA! WHERE ARE YOU?_ ” However, when she reached the bottom of the stairwell the horde of those dead-undead things came out from the atrium. Jaime darted around a corner, covering her mouth so she wouldn’t scream.

_Oh god no where do I go? What do I do?_

Something grabbed her arm and she did scream, nearly jumping out of her skin. Her grandfather shushed her, pulling her to his chest and covering her mouth with his hand. “It’s okay babygirl, it’s okay it’s just me.” Jaime’s eyes welled up and she pressed her face into his chest, exhaling in relief.

“Now be quiet, we gotta move before those sons of- before those things catch us.” She nodded looking up at him. “Where’s mama?” She asked before noticing a spraying of blood covering his white t-shirt.

Her grandfather didn’t answer her, but he didn’t have to. Jaime choked on her breath, closing her eyes for a moment to hold back tears. He took her hand, pulling her down the hallway “I’m gonna get you out of here.”

However, when he pushed open the emergency exit door, crowds of the dead and living were already outside. He pulled her along behind him, running toward the parking lot. There was a pickup truck pulled up at the curb, the owner helping people into the truck bed. They had almost made it when a dead TSA agent launched itself at them. Her grandfather pushed her aside and threw up his arms, crying out as its teeth sunk into his forearm.

“ _NO!_ ” Jaime moved to help him but he pushed her away.

“Go Jaime go!” More of the dead things had heard his cries and were moving toward the two of them. Jaime looked around, backing up a step toward the truck but no she couldn’t leave him. Her grandfather pushed down the thing that had bit him, shouting at her. “JAIME RUN! _RUN!_ ” And then he launched himself at the crowd of dead forming around him.

“ _NO!_ ” Her scream was endless mingling with her grandfather’s own as the dead surrounded him. An arm curled around her waist and she was pulled into the truck bed. She pushed herself up, sobbing as the truck drove out of the airport parking lot. She screamed- “ _PAPA! PAPA!_ _We have to go back_! _WE HAVE TO GO BACK FOR HIM!_ ”

But it was too late.

She was on her own.

* * *

 

Jaime had never met anyone named Negan in her life  and she doubted she would meet anyone like him ever again. He was clean-shaven and his eyes cold as steel, a contrast to the whites of his teeth when he smiled. His outfit- a leather jacket and red scarf with jeans and boots- hugged his frame tight, showing a slight but broad shouldered figure. He was tall, towering over them. And he would probably tower over most of them when they were not kneeling. 

But the most intimidating part of Negan wasn’t his outfit, his eyes, or the smile he wore, but what he carried. Cradled over his shoulder was a bat wrapped in barbed wire. It was probably Jaime’s eyes playing tricks on her but she could _see_ the bloodstains on it. She had a pretty strong suspicion about what that bat would be used for.

Jaime observed this all from the quick glances she risked while Negan spoke to Dwight. Maureen had been watching him descend the stairs at first but she had looked down when he addressed her.

Maureen had stayed silent as Dwight pushed himself up onto his feet. “New guys. Patrol found them outside about an hour ago.”

“Brought ‘em in yourself?” Negan asked, giving Dwight a knowing smirk.

Dwight’s scowl seemed to be permanently etched into his features. “No, sir. Jacobs and Trevor found them.”

“I’ll have a word with them later. They just signed themselves the fuck up to dig ditches for a fucking month.” Jaime risked another look, watching as Negan strolled down the line, giving Eli and Reese a glance as he passed by. There was such confidence in the man’s stride- an easy confidence. He was so certain of the power he possessed. With one word, he could have them tossed out.

Of course, with that bat of his he wouldn’t even have to say a thing.

Negan came to a stop at the end of the line, right in front of-- _run,_ a voice whispered in her head--  Jaime. He crouched in front of her, “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

Jaime looked up, raising her eyebrows. Up close Jaime realized he was older than she’d expected- the wrinkled corners of his eyes told her he was in his late 40’s. Around the age her grandfather had been….

Although Negan smiled at her, she could tell it was not friendly. Not for her comfort but for his own entertainment. Then Jaime realized why he was singling her out- he was already asserting his dominance over them. Showing the other three he had control of the youngest- probably who he thought was the most vulnerable (“ _gimme a break_ ” ) of their group.

She straightened up, meeting his eyes to show she was not afraid of him. She had no idea how much she would regret this action later. “Jaime.” Not too far away, Maureen tensed up at the sight of the man in leather kneeling in front of Jaime.

“When they told me they were bringing a kid in I thought it’d be some brat with fucking snot coming out of his nose- I didn’t expect you.” He tilted his head, pausing a moment before asking his next question. “How fucking old are you anyway?”

 _What?_ Jaime glanced at the others before she responded. “Does it matter?” The words left her lips before she had thought them through. She’d always had that problem- speaking before thinking.

Negan only chuckled, “Man- anyone else talked to me like that they’d be getting a pavement facial but it’s just too darn cute coming from you.” He leaned in closer, “But yeah, it really fucking matters. Age might not matter so much in blood and bullets but I don’t want some asshole twice your age trying to take advantage of you. Now, I can’t keep my eyes on you all the time but since you’re a minor you can bet some people with enough charity in their hearts will look after you if I’m not there to deal with it.”

“And who says I couldn’t deal with it myself?” If Maureen were closer, if Reese weren’t burning up the way he was now, either of them would have told her to shut the fuck up but Jaime couldn’t stop herself.

But Negan was still grinning at her, and now he laughed, loud enough for the rest of them to hear. “Fucking look at that. You got a pair of brass ones on you don’t you kid? Look at you, barely out of your training bra, fucking tell me you can ‘deal with it your own damn self’.” He pressed a hand to his chest, “I believe you- but believe me there are some sick fucks out there who’d take that as a challenge.”

Jaime almost asked him if he knew that from experience but she held herself back, stumbling over her words to come up with something else. “I… I _was_ fifteen when this all started.”

“See wasn’t that easy? Now I know and we can get the hell _on_ with this. I wanted to fuck at least _one_ of my wives today.” Negan’s eyes lingered on her a moment longer before he stood up, moving on to Reese. “And you?”

“Reese.” Reese sounded breathless, Jaime could feel heat radiating off him. Shit- he was much sicker than she’d thought.

Negan let out a low whistle. “You look like day old horse shit man. You know when it starts getting all crusty around the edges.” Negan leaned back, swinging the bat off his shoulder. “The fuck happened to you?” He said, indicating the bandage on Reese’s neck with the tip of his bat.

Reese gasped out what sounded like a laugh. “Really bad hickey?” Jaime knew _that_ was the fever talking. She glanced over at Reese, seeing the man looked like he was about to topple over. The journey to the Sanctuary had certainly taken its toll on him.

“He wasn’t bit.” Maureen spoke up, trying to smooth over Reese’s blunder. “Our camp caught fire. Reese was burned while trying to get our supplies.”

Negan regarded her a moment before grinning at Reese again, “Trying to be a hero, Reese? You should know you get _shit_ for fucking heroics now.”

Maureen bristled at that comment, rising on her knees. “He wasn’t being a hero. We wouldn’t have made it this far without those supplies.”

“Excuse _the fuck_ out of me but was I _fucking speaking to you_?” Negan’s voice had risen to a shout , his smile gone from his face.

Jaime felt a chill run down her spine as Negan crossed back in front of the group and knelt before Maureen. He held the bat with one hand, the barbed wire inches away from her face. “Well you got something else you wanna say, sweetheart?”

Maureen pursed her lips, looking at the ground, digging her nails into the palm of her hand to restrain herself.

“Nothing? Because I sure as fuck do.” He grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, moving her head up, raising his voice. “First of fucking all- and this goes for all you motherfuckers- when I have something to say to you, you give me your fucking undivided attention. You fucking hang off every single one of my goddamn words and you say ‘yes sir’ when I get finished. Second, you speak when fucking spoken to and _only_ when you’re fucking spoken to. So, I hear you speak out of turn again we’re gonna have a fucking problem on our hands. You fucking got that?”

“…yes.”

“Yes. What?”

Jaime watched Maureen as she gritted her teeth, meeting Negan’s eyes, “Yes _sir_.”

_What an asshole._

“Fan-fucking-tastic, now we’re getting somewhere!” Negan let go of Maureen’s chin and stood up. He moved back to the middle of their little line-up, addressing all of them. “Now I suppose Dwight explained some shit to you but there is some very special fucking gold-plastered shit you gotta hear directly from me.” Negan rested the bat against his shoulder, his grin back in place. “If you haven’t fucking guessed it already, I’m Negan. I am _in fucking charge_ of all you assholes here. You wanna be a part of this community? You fucking answer the fuck to me. And this-“ He lowered the bat from his shoulder, holding it proudly in front of him. “Is Lucille. And she is one _bad_ girl. She’s got a hell of a temper. Much like me you _don’t_ want to be on her bad side. Or you know…” Negan made a swinging motion and clicked his tongue. “She is one thirsty girl. And she just cannot get enough- she _always_ wants more.”

Negan hefted the bat over his shoulder, grinning again- _asshole asshole asshole_. “Now, group as small as yours, not really worth killing one of you to make an example. However, you don’t fucking fall in line fucking _now_ _at this fucking moment_ you’re giving me- giving _her_ \- a damn good reason to paint one of your fucking brains all over the fucking walls- leaving one hell of a stain the rest of you aren’t liable to fucking forget.” Negan paused a moment to let his words sink in, but he wasn’t finished yet. “Now there are rules for a fucking reason. I know, hard to hear there are still rules in a world like this. World goes to shit, people think they can do whatever they want. They _have_ to fucking fall in line, they need someone to show them how. Why?”

As if on cue, the Sanctuary citizens (including Dwight) on their knees around Jaime spoke at once, “ _The rules keep us alive._ ”

“Fucking right! We have a civilization here and we _cannot_ have civilization without rules. Is that clear?” Negan looked down at Maureen, moving the bat off his shoulder and pointing it at her. “I said _is that fucking clear_?”

 _Screw this asshole’s cult bullshit_. Jaime watched Maureen, not believing when Maureen nodded her head, “Crystal.”

Seeming pleased with the answer, Negan moved down the line to Eli, pointing Lucille at him. Eli looked up and nodded, “Yes… sir.” Negan grinned, “Good, see, he’s getting it.” He moved down to Reese, who just gave a weak nod, keeping his eyes on the ground.

Jaime’s mouth was set in a firm line as he moved in front of her, shifting the bat level with her chin. “…well, sweetheart, got something to say?” Negan asked when she didn’t speak.

She could feel Maureen’s eyes on her- just say yes, just be good and say yes. Maureen knew what was best right? She hadn’t steered them wrong yet. If she was okay with going along with this shit-show, Jaime could too right? Right?

Except….

Jaime had never been good at being good. She’d never stayed put and stayed quiet. Impulsive, smart-mouthed, sharp-tongued. And guys like Negan- so sure of themselves, high and mighty assholes- they just dug into her and pissed her off and she _had_ to say something. If she didn’t who would? 

But this time, one wrong word and Lucille would be brought down on her head. One false move she could die… but isn’t that life nowadays anyway? She could’ve died any time before now but she was here, she was alive. And she, maybe, would be alive after this.

“Cat got your fucking tongue, kid?” Negan’s voice brought her back from her thoughts. He was frowning at her (she wasn’t sure at this point what was more dangerous, his smile or his frown), the bat still level with her chin. “You’re gonna keep us waiting all night? I fucking asked if you had something to say.” His voice was quiet but firm. Angry.  

The others were afraid of him. _Maureen_ was afraid of him. But what was Negan after all? Just some asshole bully with a bat.

“Well, like my grandma used to tell me, you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.”  The look on Negan’s face almost made her thoughtless- careless- words worth it. His eyes widened slightly in surprise and his mouth opened a bit. And then his eyes closed and he started to laugh. A dark, booming laugh Jaime felt vibrate through her bones, making even her teeth rattle (or was she shivering?). She glanced at Dwight and by the almost panicked look on his face, she knew immediately she shouldn’t have said that.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop about ten degrees by the time Negan sobered up, the grin he gave Jaime making her skin crawl. “ _Fuck kid-_ you are so gonna regret that.”  He shifted Lucille away from her chin and Jaime braced herself for when he swung at her head, for when the bite of the barbed wire tore into her skin. But that didn’t happen.

Instead Negan turned to Dwight, “Move that asshole up, keep him on his knees.” He told him, gesturing to Eli.

“Hey-“ Maureen yelled as Dwight grabbed Eli by the shoulder, dragging him forward in front of Negan. Maureen surged forward but another Savior grabbed her from behind, locking his arms around her waist. “Not another move, sweetheart. This’ll all be over quick.” Negan tilted his head, “Dwight take his glasses off. Wouldn’t want anything getting in Lucille’s way.” Eli didn’t try to push Dwight away as he removed his glasses, seeming stunned by this turn of events. 

“Don’t do this. Please.” Jaime had never heard Maureen plead before. Maureen struggled to break the grip around her, looking at Eli with wide eyes . “We’ll follow the rules we will.”

Negan grinned at her, chuckling to himself, “Oh I know _you_ will.” He looked pointedly at Jaime and then lifted the bat off his shoulder. Her heart was beating rapidly and she felt bile rise to her throat. What had she done?

 “WAIT!” She and Maureen shouted at the same time as Negan raised the bat over his head, swinging it downward…

… And stopping inches away from the top of Eli’s head.

Jaime let out a ragged breath, watching as Negan straightened up, lowering Lucille to his side. For his part, Eli hadn’t even flinched when Negan had swung at him, but Jaime couldn’t tell if it was bravery or shock that kept him from cringing away.

Before she knew it, Negan was crouching in front of her again, baring his teeth in a grin that made her think of a wolf about to rip the throat out of the prey it had been stalking. “Now… Jaime, you got something else you want to say? Think _real_ carefully about it.”

Jaime looked down at the ground, shaking her head. “N-no.”

“Are you gonna follow the rules Jaime?”

Her hand shook and she pressed them into the stone floor- _fuck him_ \- but she nodded, “Yes…. Yes, sir.”

Negan tilted his head to the side, nodding to himself. “You know, Jaime, I don’t exactly trust you. But I’m a generous man. And I’m willing to give you the benefit of the fucking doubt.” He stood up, raising his voice to issue a command. “Dwight, break his nose.” 

Jaime’s eyes snapped up, hearing Maureen’s gasp as Dwight balled up his fist, hitting Eli squarely in the face. She heard a sickening crack as Eli toppled over onto the ground, blood gushing from his nose.

“Let her go Joey.” Negan told the man holding Maureen back, “She knows what’ll fucking happen if she does something stupid. Don’t you sweetheart?”

Maureen gritted her teeth, attempting to disguise her anger with a spastic nod, “Yes sir.” She answered, maybe too quickly. Joey released her and she immediately rushed over to Eli’s side, leaning over him. She must have been whispering because Eli nodded to whatever she said, letting her help him back onto his knees, pinching his nose against the flow of blood. God his face was covered in it.

Jaime did that. She’d gotten Eli hurt- almost gotten him killed. All because of her stupid mouth- she just _had_ to say something, didn’t she?

“Now that was just a little example of what happens when you fuck up. Believe me- any other fucking day I’d be caving in-“ Negan stopped mid-sentence, turning back to where Eli and Maureen were knelt, “Fuck was your name again?”

Eli raised his head, “Ah- Eli.” His voice was garbled, near choking on the blood going down his throat.

Negan grinned, “Really? Well I guess that’s better than being named after a fucking candy bar. Any normal day I’d be caving in Eli’s goddamn grapefruit. But- like I said- it’d just be a waste. And a mess one of you’d have to clean up later.”

Negan ambled back over to where Eli and Maureen were knelt. He grabbed Eli’s glasses from Dwight, holding them up to the fading light shining from the windows with a frown. “How the fuck do you see through all the shit on these? It’s like you got worms’ guts all over the glass.” He shrugged, folding the earpieces of the glasses out and sticking them unceremoniously back onto Eli’s face.  “Can I ask you a question Eli? It’s been nagging at me the whole fucking time.”

Eli raised his eyebrows, “Uh…sure.”

Negan pointed at Maureen. “Are you two together? Cause man she is _way_ too hot for you. And, I mean if you are, I’m curious as fuck to know how the fuck that happened, I mean like you wear fucking _glasses_ for crying out loud . Wouldn’t peg a smoking hot girl like her to go for a- pardon my fucking French- _geek_ like you.”

The look Maureen shot Negan should have frozen him ten times over but Eli ducked his head, a small smirk on his lips, “Uh no we’re- we’re not together.” 

“Huh...well-“ Negan leaned back, calling to the man standing next to Dwight. “Wade, why don’t you take the two boys and get ‘em to the infirmary before Reese there keels over.”

Wade nodded, moving his mouth like he was chewing on something, “Gotcha boss.” He scooped Reese up from under his arms, passing him over to a couple more men who guided (more like dragged) Reese towards the stairs. Reese tried to walk on his own at first but his legs caved in and one of the men had to catch him before he fell.

“We got a great doctor.” Negan said to Maureen, “He’ll fix him right up… if he lives long enough.”

“You too Poindexter.” Wade said, grabbing Eli by the back of his shirt. “On your feet.”

“Let go of him-“ Maureen snapped but Eli grabbed her wrist. “Maureen it’s okay. I’ll be okay.” Eli kept one hand on his nose as he pushed himself to his feet, allowing Wade to drive him forward to the stairwell. He glanced back at Maureen and Jaime before he and Reese went through the door.

Jaime met Maureen’s eyes. It was just them now. After weeks of being right by each other’s side, Negan had so easily split them up. Watching Reese and Eli disappear behind the door, having no idea what was going to happen to them- it was the worst feeling in the world.

“Miles.” Negan’s booming voice brought her back from her thoughts. A long-legged man with a cigarette tucked behind his ear stepped forward from behind Maureen. “Yeah?”

“Make sure you find a place for these two and their friends. See if Chris has got a room for the kid.”

Miles tilted his head, shrugging. His eyes were barely focused, making him look like he was bored by the whole proceedings. “Sure thing.”

“Dwight, you come with me. I got a _hell_ of a story to tell you.” Negan made his way toward the stairs, Dwight following behind him. She watched him as he examined his knuckles, glaring at his back. It wasn’t like she thought he was friendly or anything, but punching Eli had felt like some sort of betrayal.

Stupid. Dwight didn’t care. He was just a mindless follower like the rest of them.

Negan had almost reached the stairs going up to the next floor when he turned back. “Oh yeah and Miles… if either of them misbehave….” His eyes flitted between her and Maureen, grinning at them. “Put Candy Man and Four Eyes out of their misery and string ‘em up on the fence. They’re gonna work for me no matter what. Have a nice night, ladies.” With that Negan turned on his heels moving back up the stairs.

“Let’s get going.” Miles said behind her as soon as Negan was gone. “I’m not in the mood to be babysitting tonight.”

After a beat, Maureen rose to her feet and Jaime followed suit. The rest of the people on the factory floor had resumed their work, almost like nothing had happened.

The two girls exchanged a look, the same thought running through their heads.

_What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right so it's been a little longer than I thought, that's what I get for starting a multi-chapter story before a big move. But it's all over (still unpacking of course, will be unpacking for probably a couple months at most), so I had time to work this one into what you see now.
> 
> Again thank you to thatsparrow for looking this one over too- especially for the parts with Negan and for pointing out some very glaring mistakes I made.
> 
> Thank you for everyone that read, kudo'd, and thank you TBVikingAddict for commenting! That's all for now!


	4. Chapter Four: Something out of The Godfather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: The chapters are gonna get a lot longer from here. We've gotten past introductions now we're getting into the real meat of the story.

After their mother had died, Reese’s younger brother moved back home and together they pooled what little they had so they could buy the auto shop Reese worked at. Peyton always had more drive than Reese but after six years of taking care of his mother, working the same nine to five job every day, Reese was ready for a change. A month after they opened _Harland Bros. Automotive_ , Peyton started dating a young woman named Carly. It wasn’t long before she moved in with them and Harland Bros. went from being a two-man team to a trio. Carly had an Associate’s degree in business so while she handled the numbers, Peyton dealt with the people, and Reese worked on the cars.

Though he enjoyed the hands-on experience of being a mechanic, Reese had never planned on making it his career. Before dropping out of college to care for his mom, he had ambitions to go to a university out of state. He had been taking classes at a community college to get his general education requirements out of the way, as well as applying to different technology based schools. He’d had good grades most his life and would have easily gained financial aid. But when his mother fell ill, Reese put his plans on hold for her and let Peyton continue with his education. Now, years later, Reese still hoped he would go back. Even though he loved his brother, this wasn’t the life he wanted.

When he approached his brother about going back to school, Peyton insisted he go. “The shop’s doing well man! We’ve got some money saved up. You should go now while we can still afford it.” Reese tried to tell Peyton he could use his own money but his brother insisted. In the end, they settled on a compromise where Peyton would set up a payment plan for Reese to pay him back and Reese started to send out applications again to the same universities as he had six years before. He promised Peyton he’d pay him back as soon as he could- it’s funny how even though he was the big brother, Peyton was the one taking care of him.

The day the world ended, Reese drove three hours away from his home for an interview. When it was over, Reese walked back to his car, looking down at his phone and pausing. He had thirteen missed calls from Peyton.

Normally, Reese would consider two or more missed calls an emergency so thirteen….

He got into his car, putting his phone on speaker so he could listen to his voicemail as he drove. Out of the thirteen times Peyton had called him, he had left eight voice messages.

First voice message:

_“Hey man! We were still asleep when you left so we wanted to wish you good luck up there. You’re gonna kill it! Carly gives you her best. Says if you get in she might consider dumping me for you, you being a Big College Man and all. If you got time, make sure you get a cheese-steak for me! Love you man, see you soon!”_

Second voice message:

_“Hi Reese. Just wanted to fill you in on what’s happening. Some douchebag attacked Carly when we were walking to the shop. I called the police and took her to the hospital. She’s saying she’s fine but the police are being quiet about everything. He fucking_ bit _her Reese. What a goddamn animal- anyway, hope everything’s going okay for you. Let us know when you’re on your way home. We shouldn’t be here too much longer.”_

Third voice message:

“ _Reese, man, something fucked up is going on. Something majorly fucking fucked up. I- there’s cops everywhere in this hospital. People are talking about a bad fever going around. Some kind of new disease. They took Carly into a quarantine too. I haven’t been able to see her since._ _Shit-… I don’t know if I should tell you to stay away from here but man I’m scared and I really need you here. Let me know when you get this message.”_

Fourth voice message:

“ _... Reese… Carly she… I got in to see her and she was- god fucking dammit shit fuck- I just can’t believe…. She was_ dead _Reese. She was just lying on the fucking table dead and cold and I was holding her hand and I couldn’t believe it and they were saying something like she got infected but I couldn’t hear them really well and she was just lying there and then she wasn’t she fucking bolted up right and she- she fucking tried to bite my neck! She almost took a huge chunk out of it and then they pulled her down and she was dead but she wasn’t fucking dead I don’t know I don’t-  Hey what are you doing! WHAT THE FUCK NO-“_

(a gunshot broke off- Reese’s heart jumped into his throat- and Peyton’s message ended there)

Fifth voice message:

_“Goddammit, they killed her! They fucking killed her! God shit- there were fucking SWAT guys in the hospital man and they were just lining people up in the hallways and shooting them! I got away but when I looked back there were these- things in hospital gowns and they went after them and… fuck Reese. They weren’t alive they couldn’t be… they tore through the SWAT guys like they were nothing! And then when I got out one of them… please tell me you’re coming home, man. I need you here.”_

Sixth voice message:

_“Reese… I don’t feel too good….”_

Seventh voice message:

“ _It’s the bite that does it. The bite infects you, gives you a fever and then kills you and brings you back. That’s what happened to Carly. That’s what’s happening… it happened to me Reese. One of them got me at the hospital right on my shoulder. It happened so fast… I’m sweating like a goddamn pig. I went to the shop but I don’t know why. I guess I thought you’d be there.”_

Eighth (and final) voice message:

(Peyton’s breaths were labored as he spoke into the receiver)

_“Reese… don’t come home. Whatever you do, do not… fucking… come home. Something bad has happened…. I’m gonna die Reese… like Carly… like Mom…. Reese, it hurts so much I-… I don’t think I can last much longer… I’m in the shop. If you do come back… don’t fucking come in. Don’t. You gotta… you gotta survive this._

_I love you Reese._ ”

Reese sped down the freeway, turning a three-hour drive into an hour and a half. The other side of the highway was jammed with cars, trying to get out of exactly where Reese was headed. There were sirens all around him and he could see fires raging in the distance. As he drove into his hometown he heard the airhorn from the military base nearby blasting. He heard screams as he raced passed groups of people running in the opposite direction. All warning signs- all signs that he should turn and leave too. But he ignored those signs. He wasn’t going to leave his brother to die. He skidded in front of the shop, getting out of the car and fishing the key out of his wallet.

The door was already ajar. A sinking feeling in his stomach, he went through the door, moving cautiously down the hallway.

“Peyton!” Reese called, opening the door to the office. Empty but some of the file drawers were open; Peyton had been looking for something. He closed the door moving out of the reception room and into the garage, nearly tripping on a knocked over chair. He was about to call for him again when he spotted him. Peyton had his back to him, and he was staring up at the old banner they used to hang in front of the store. Reese did not notice the blood on his brother’s shoulder or the way his ankle was twisted around.

“Peyton… Peyton are you-“ Reese choked on his words when Peyton turned around. Peyton’s eyes had always been a bright green color- the same as their mother’s. Now his eyes were gray and glassy. And his complexion was pale, his skin practically translucent. If Reese hadn’t had known better, he would have thought Peyton was-

“No.” No he couldn’t be, he was standing right there in front of him. But as he started to deny it Peyton’s blank expression turned into a snarl. He lurched forward to Reese, opening his mouth wide like he was unhinging it. Reese backed up a step, holding his hands out in front of him. “N-no stop!”

Peyton- or the thing that used to be Peyton- growled at Reese, swiping at him and almost grabbing him. Reese ducked out of the way, backing up. The dead thing was only deterred for a moment and then it continued after him, slowed by its twisted ankle. Before Reese knew it, he had been backed up against a work bench. The thing lunged and Reese had to hold it back by its shoulders to keep it from biting him. “Peyton stop this! Stop it!” Reese screamed as the dead thing clacked its teeth, flicking spittle onto his cheek. But there was no use trying to reason with it. Reese managed to push it away for a moment, grabbing onto a wrench behind him and swinging at its head. The wrench made contact and it was knocked back but did not fall over. Reese held the wrench in front of him, grabbing onto a screwdriver with his other hand. As his dead brother lunged for him again, Reese stabbed the screwdriver into its eye-socket.

And it crumpled down onto the floor. Reese’s chest heaved and he didn’t move for a moment as he waited for it to stand back up again. But it didn’t.

Reese dropped the wrench and fell to his knees. He crawled over to Peyton’s broken body, tears stinging his eyes. As he gathered his brother up in his arms, a sob broke through. _This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening_.

He buried his head in Peyton’s chest, bawling out, “I just killed my brother.”

* * *

 

The last images of the nightmare were still burned into his eyelids when Reese awoke the next day. He was slow to wake, fighting against the urge to give back in to the comfort of sleep. His eyes took a moment to focus when he finally was strong enough to open them. The room he was in had stone walls and no windows, like a dungeon. He was lying in some type of bed- a hospital bed, he realized, seeing the railings on the sides. He tried to sit up but his muscles were stiff and weak. The most he could do was crane his head to see an IV bag set up next to the bed, the cord attached to his arm.

Where was he? Reese felt tingling in his fingers and toes, his limbs waking up along with the rest of him. He remembered going somewhere- the Sanctuary he thought it was called- the roamer attack, a man with a scar on his face at the front gate and then they went inside….

Eli! Eli on his knees. Eli with blood on his face. Reese tried to sit up again, this time managing to lift his shoulders. He had to get up- he had to find out what happened.

As he struggled to push himself up the rest of the way, the door opened and a woman walked in carrying a tray. When she saw him trying to sit up on the bed, she placed the tray on the counter and went over to him. “Take it easy, you don’t want to strain yourself.” She put an arm around his waist, helping him sit up and then she moved the pillow behind his back to keep him propped up.

Now that she was closer, Reese could see she was more of a girl than a woman- younger than Jaime even. Her skin was brown like Jaime’s as well, but not nearly as dark. She also lacked the muscle definition in her arms and legs that Jaime had from her gymnastics. “We didn’t think you’d be awake yet.” She turned back to the tray, which had a pitcher of water on it. She picked it up. “Would you like some?”

Reese nodded, opening his mouth to speak. “Yes… yes… _yes_.” He had to repeat the word several times to get some sound out.

The girl poured water into a plastic cup, holding it out for him. Reese reached for it and for a moment he thought he might drop the cup but his hand only shook a bit before steadying. He downed the entire cup, holding it out for more. She poured more for him and then put the pitcher back on the tray, moving around the bed to check the bandage on his neck- a clean one. It must have been changed after he passed out. “Do you feel any pain?” She asked, lifting a corner up.

Reese took another gulp from the cup. “No. None.” He looked over at her. “Where am I?”

“Private room. We moved you here after you stabilized.” She sat down in a chair besides the bed. “You were in the infirmary most of the night. Your fever was spiking but it broke during the night. Doctor Harding thought it was safe to move you after. He said you’d be asleep maybe another six hours.”

Reese shook his head, “How long have I been out?”

The girl pursed her lips, “More than twelve hours.”

_Holy shit._

“Your friends were here for a while.” She continued, “Um… Eli and Maureen? She stayed until midnight and he was here after too. They let him sleep here.”

“And what about Jaime? The other girl that was with me?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know. I’m sorry. There’s a curfew for those of us under 18 by ten, everyone else midnight. I’m the doctor’s assistant so I don’t have to. They must have found a room for her.”

The girl stood up, “I’ll go get the doctor. He can tell you if you’re well enough to leave.”

“Hey uh-“ Reese spoke up before she started to walk away. “I never got your name.”

She smiled at him again. “Julie.”

“Thank you, Julie. For everything. I’m Reese by the way.”

“You’re welcome Reese.” Julie shrugged before opening the door, “It is my job after all.” She went out the door.

Reese sat back into the pillow, looking at the pitcher on the counter. He wished she’d moved it closer since he was so thirsty. But it was probably not a good idea to drink so much. He remembered what Maureen had said- if you’re dehydrated you should rehydrate yourself little by little or you get sick.

He ran a hand through his hair, combing his fingers through the tangles. _I gotta get this cut before it gets too out of hand._

About five minutes later the doctor walked in followed by Julie and another man- Reese recognized him from the day before. Long legs, blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, an unlit cigarette behind his ear. He crossed his arms, leaning back against the counter. “How’s he looking, Harding?”

“Have some patience, Miles. Reese has been unconscious since you last saw him.” Doctor Harding must have been a couple decades older than Reese. He had gray stubble on his cheeks and glasses that hung from a string around his neck. Besides Eli, Reese hadn’t met anyone who wore glasses since the start. Harding reached for his wrist, taking his pulse. “How’re you feeling Reese?”

“Uh, a little groggy but fine. I think.” Reese was aware of the bandage on his neck but for the first time in days the burn beneath it wasn’t hurting. Harding put a hand to his forehead, “Well your fever’s gone. You seem to be moving well enough on your own. Any pain?”

“No.” He still felt stiff but more movement would loosen his joints.

“All right, stick out your arm and make a fist.” Reese did so but found he couldn’t squeeze his fingers well enough. In fact, his whole arm was tired from just holding it up.

Harding nodded to himself, “Well, that’s expected. But I think other than the weakness and dehydration you’re all better.” He looked over at the other man. “Though he should _not_ be working today. Given the fact that he was all but dying yesterday.”

Miles shrugged, “No point anyway. Work day’s nearly over. And not my problem.” He pushed off from the counter, moving toward the door. “Get dressed and find me on the main floor when you’re ready. But hurry it up. Your friends have already wasted enough of my time. And you,” He looked at Julie, “We need to have a talk when you get off.”

Julie narrowed her eyes, seeming like she wanted to say something but she just nodded, “Fine.”

When Miles left, Harding turned back to him. “Don’t mind Miles. He woke up one day in a bad mood and decided to keep it that way for the rest of the year. Julie, if you wouldn’t mind getting Reese some fresh clothes.”

“Of course, doctor.”

“I think we can get rid of this.” The doctor said, taking the IV out of his arm. He grabbed a bandage for the blood that started to bloom when the needle was removed. “If you start feeling dizzy or any pain come back and see me. Free of charge… just don’t tell anyone.”

“Free of charge?”

“Any future visits here will cost points. You have none but they let it slide considering your condition.” Harding shrugged, “I don’t really care for the system, but it works.”

Julie walked back into the room, carrying a small hamper in front of her, “These should fit. We weren’t sure of your sizes.”

“Let me guess,” Reese said, rubbing his eyes, “ _Those_ will cost me points.”

Julie grimaced, “Yeah but your other clothes were pretty wrecked.”

Reese could feel a headache starting. “Well, how do I _get_ points?”

“I’m sure Miles will explain it to you.” Harding patted him on the back (Reese tried not to wince). “You’ll catch on eventually. If not… well you can always get by on your looks.”

* * *

 

After he was dressed, Reese thanked Harding for saving his life and in return Harding shook his hand and told him not to be a stranger (unless he could help it). Reese walked out of the room, not entirely sure where he should go. He ended up following a small group of men- he assumed by their attire they were Saviors- down the stairs and onto the factory floor. It was quieter than it had been the day before (lunch-time had come and gone) but there were still people milling about around the tables. At one side of the room, there were people working at a giant furnace- he couldn’t see what they were making but it must have had something to do with the roamers that had been hanging on the fence.

“Most modern inventions didn’t have any use when the world went to shit.” Miles found him, standing in the middle of the room still staring at the work going on around him. “Cell phones, computers, those scanners you get for stuff like wedding registries- but that right there was still in working order when we found this place.” He gestured to the furnace. “We got it going again and it’s been at work ever since. Making defenses against the dead, weapons... hell even armor. So, Reese,” Miles turned to him, “Are you gonna be useful like this furnace or just another fucking waste of effort like a cell phone?”

“I….“ How was he supposed to answer that question?

Miles sighed, “Okay guess I need to slow things down for you.” Miles moved away from him and after a beat Reese followed. “Does this have anything to do with points?”

“Aaaaaaaaaand five points to Fabio.” Miles rolled his eyes. “It’s got damn near everything to do with points. Negan gave you guys the go-ahead so you’re officially a part of the Sanctuary now. My job is to make you a _contributing_ part of the Sanctuary. So, you’re gonna get a bed, food, options for medical care, and a roof over your head. And in return you work for us.” He pushed aside some plastic curtains leading to the other end of the factory. “I gotta find a job for you where, if you pull your own weight, you’ll get rewarded and if you slack off, you get punished.”

“And what if you can’t find a job for me?” Reese regretted asking the instant he spoke.

Miles looked at him from the corner of his eye and then away again. “We don’t have room for people who waste our fucking resources for nothing. You leave or, in really fucked up cases, you end up on the fence.”

Reese stopped in his tracks. “You _kill_ people that try to leave?”

“What? No, are you shitting me?” Miles shook his head, “I said ‘really fucked up cases’ for a reason. You want to leave, fucking fine by us. Pack up your shit and get the fuck out. Better to have one less worker than someone who takes up space. We have mostly pre-turned rotters on the fence although,” He looked straight at him, “There have been other cases. People steal from us and take off. We catch them and they’re punished. We don’t kill unless we have to. Unless they attack us or take their own lives.”

“Do many people do that here?” Reese asked, “Commit suicide?”

Miles didn’t answer that. He spun on his heels, leading Reese further into the factory. “First let’s get you a place to sleep then I’ll see what I can do about a job for you.” Reese followed him into what must have been the dorm area, set up like a Medivac shelter. Bed sheets and curtains hung up on ropes, splitting the room into numbered sections. Some sections had only one cot in them, some had up to four for the families.

Miles led him to a silver-haired woman, looking down at a clipboard in her hand. “Hey, Chris. Got another one for you.”

“Askin’ too much of me Miles.” The older woman, Chris, had a noticeable drawl. She looked up from her clipboard. “When’s Negan gonna hear me about expanding? We got cramped enough quarters as it is.”

“Not my problem. He just got back from the road anyway. You wanna set anything up go through Dwight or Wade, not me.” Miles’s words were biting but Chris just seemed to shrug them off, like she was used to it. Miles nodded at Reese, “This is Reese. He needs a bed, you helped out his friends yesterday.”

“Is that right?” Chris turned her attention to Reese. “Black teenager? Curly haired guy and the girl with blue eyes?”

Reese nodded, “Yeah that’s them.”

“Uh huh. Well,” Chris looked back down at her clipboard with a frown, “The teen I set up on the fourth floor in a temporary room for now. The other two each got singles. Can’t say I can put you next to them but I think I can get you pretty close.” She lowered the clipboard, stepping back. “Follow me, I’ll get you set up. You coming Miles?”

“I think you’ve got it from here.” Miles glanced at Reese, “Before I go, I need you to answer a few questions.”

“Okay….”

“You ever kill anyone?”

That question stopped Reese cold. He pressed his lips together, lowering his chin. “No.”

“Do you know how to use firearms?”

Reese nodded, “I had a pistol. You guys took it.”

“Last question: what did you use to do for a living?”

Reese took a moment before answering, “I was a mechanic.”

Miles raised an eyebrow, “Huh, you might actually be useful. Least you weren’t a librarian.” He shrugged, “We got a garage for all the Saviors’ vehicles. I’ll place you there. You got any questions, you go to Chris. I’m not usually in such a good mood so if you try to talk to me I’ll just ignore you. Or hit you. Depends on the day.” Miles turned around, “See you ‘round Chris.” He said before walking away.

Reese looked at Chris, “That was a good mood?”

“I’m surprised he let you hear him say full sentences.” Chris gestured for him to follow her and she walked into the maze of sheets, leading him to section thirteen.

_Lucky thirteen_ , Reese couldn’t help but think as she moved the curtain aside. “There was someone livin’ here before you.” Chris said, indicating the trunk at the foot of the cot, “You’re entitled t’any items they left behind and that the Saviors didn’t claim for themselves. Might find something worth it in there to trade.”

“Does trading get you points?”

“Nah, but it might buy ya’ something good at one of the tables.” Chris frowned, “Didn’t think this bed would get filled so soon. I’ll have someone bring up some sheets and blankets for ya’.”

A lump formed in Reese’s throat. “Did the person who used to be here-“

“Oh honey, no. They’re still alive, they just relocated. Moved in with someone else.”

Reese nodded and swallowed. At least he wasn’t sleeping in a dead man’s bed.

Chris moved the curtain aside again, “Work starts usually around 7 AM. I’d suggest getting up an hour before that if you want to get coffee and breakfast while it lasts. You’ll probably hear people start waking up around five.” She paused before adding, “If it helps, my son Taylor works in the garage too. I can have him find you in the morning to give you directions.”

“That would be great. Thank-“

“Don’t bother thanking me, hon. It’s just my job.” That was the second time he heard that kind of phrase today. Reese shrugged, “All the same, I do appreciate it.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.” Chris looked over her shoulder as her name was called. “Guess that’s my cue. You all right for now, hon?”

“Yeah I’m fine.” Reese caught himself before he thanked her again. She glanced up at him from her clip board, giving him a quick smile before vanishing back into the maze.

After digging through the trunk, Reese found a spool of thread, a loose tooth comb, a gray sweater (that was too small for him), and a pair of scissors. He decided the scissors were a stroke of luck, as he’d expect those to get snatched up along with whatever else the Saviors claimed. He’d just been thinking about cutting his hair anyway and since he had some time to himself….

It took him a minute or two to find his way around but eventually he found a communal bathroom adjoining the ground floor. When he entered, there was no one inside. He doubted it would stay that way for long so he went over to the mirror and started trimming his beard. In the winter months, he hadn’t minded its length so much but now that it was summer it was far too uncomfortable. His hair fell into the sink and onto the floor as he was trimming but he barely noticed the mess.

When that was done, Reese combed out his hair with his fingers (he hadn’t thought to bring the comb he found) and when he was about to start cutting when the door opened. He watched from the mirror as a young woman wearing overalls and a pink t-shirt walked in, pushing a custodian cart in front of her.

Thunderbolt.

Peyton had once drunkenly confided in him about the night he first met Carly. “ _You know that part of- fuck wass it called? ‘The Godfather’ yeah? When he like gets hit by the thunderbolt cause of that Italian chick? Was what happened when I saw her. Never forget it-“ Peyton’s eyes were lit up even though he was still slurring his words. “Standin’ there on the steps, talking to this other guy- she caught me starting and she just gave me this smile… and I knew I couldn’t let her leave without getting her number_.” Peyton had been struck by the thunderbolt that night and from that moment on Carly was in their lives. Reese grew to love her like an older sister (though she was younger than him she tended to boss her two boys around) and sometimes he could almost see why Peyton had fallen for her. But he never really understood….

She must have been Native American by her olive skin tone. She wore her black hair up in a bun while she worked, cleaning the bathroom stall. When she reached up to change the paper towel dispenser, the sleeve of her t-shirt moved down her arm and he caught a hint of a tattoo. When she finally noticed him, he immediately looked away from the mirror, partly ashamed he’d been staring at her for so long. “Oh, I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Her voice was deeper than he would have thought but honeyed and smooth.

Reese cleared his throat, calling himself and idiot and looking back up, “Sorry. I can uh leave if you-“

“I didn’t mean that. It’s fine, you just surprised me.” She tilted her head, walking closer to him and he felt goosebumps on his arm from the air she moved. She made a noise like she was laughing, “Looks like I might be here for a while.”

“Uhhhh….” At first, Reese didn’t understand but then he realized that his hair was still all over the sink and the floor where he was standing. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. I was gonna clean it.”

“It’s no worry. At least it’s all in one place. And believe me it’s not the worst mess I cleaned up in here.” She was smiling at him even as she swept up the hair and that gave Reese the courage to take a breath and turn around. “Again, sorry. I’m… I’m Reese by the way.”

She grinned at him, like she knew some secret he didn’t. “I know who you are. I was there when they brought you and your friends in yesterday.” Her eyebrows arched up in a playful manner, a slight gleam in her eyes.

_Oh_. Reese groaned internally, remembering his blunder. “You heard all that?”

She nodded and shrugged, “It’s not the worst thing anyone’s ever said to him. I saw your friend today, the one who Dwight hit. He had a splint on but he looked fine.”

Reese let out a breath, “Thanks. I’ve been worried. I haven’t been able to find him.”

“The work day will be over soon. This is actually the last of my rounds.” She looked down at his hand, which still held the scissors. “Were those yours?”

He wanted to follow her gaze as well but for some reason he couldn’t take her eyes off her. A lock of her hair had fallen out of the bun she had put it in but she didn’t move to brush it out of the way. His other hand twitched as he felt the urge to do it for her.

Reese realized she was still waiting on an answer and he shook his head, “Found them with the trunk they gave me. Figured I needed a trim.”

“Hmmm….” Now she looked back up at him, her eyes moving up his face. “If you say so.” She grinned, “I think it’s a good look for you. Frames your face pretty well.”

He couldn’t help but grin back. “Well in _that_ case maybe I’ll reconsider.”

“I hope you do.” She looked over her shoulder, “Um well, I have somewhere to be. I do, I’m not trying to make any excuses. I’ve liked… talking to you.”

That made him smile even more, “Me too.” Reese scratched the back of his head. “I guess I’ll see you around then?”

Her smile faltered and the mischievous glint in her eye vanished. She looked down at her feet, “Actually you won’t. In fact, I don’t think you’ll ever see me again.”

Reese raised an eyebrow, “You’re joking.”

She shrugged, “… we’ll see. At least, you won’t see me for a while.”

“Well for the next time I see you, I’m gonna need a name.”

She looked back up at him and pursed her lips, like she was debating even giving him that. He was about to tell her not to worry about it, he’d just remember her as the girl in overalls who made his skin crawl in a good way, when she nodded. “Delilah.”

“Delilah.” Saying her name made the conversation real to him. This was happening, this was real. “Whether I see you or not, Delilah, I hope you have a nice night.”

Her smile was back but there was some nervousness to it. “Oh, I hope I do too… and to you as well, Reese.”

Her saying his name put the breath back into his lungs. He watched her as she grabbed the handles of the custodian cart and pulled it out of the room. Reese leaned back against the sink, feeling light-headed but not from the burn on his neck. He looked up at the door, almost hoping she’d come back in again but life doesn’t work that way, does it?

What had she meant by him never seeing her again? Was she one of the Savior’s girlfriends? Or a prisoner? Or a spirit? Or a figment of his dehydrated, exhausted mind?

When he walked out of the bathroom, he realized that Delilah had been telling the truth. From across the factory floor he could see Maureen and Eli sitting at a picnic table, having a conversation. Jaime was with them but she was sitting at the opposite end, as far from Eli as she could be. Delilah was still on Reese’s mind but now he couldn’t help but grin, moving forward, jogging toward the table. But he only jogged a few paces before stopping to catch his breath.

As he started to walk again, Jaime happened to look up. He could see her start to grin and she leapt over the table, running over to him. She had her arms wrapped around his torso in an instant and he hugged her back, lifting her up slightly off the ground.

“Hey, Spider-Monkey.” He said in a soft voice as Maureen and Eli stood and started to make their way over to him.

“Hey, Harland.” She said back to him, squeezing him tight. It hurt but the hurt proved it was real. “Thought you might have died.”

Reese sighed, putting her down as his arms started to weaken, “I’m not dying on you yet, Spider-Monkey.”

Jaime didn’t seem like she wanted to let go but she finally released him when Eli and Maureen walked over. Eli had a splint on his nose and there were dark bags under his eyes but he smiled and gave Reese a hug as well, “Feeling better?”

“Much. Harding’s a life-saver.” Reese closed his eyes a moment, a bit of worry leaking out. “You okay?”

Eli shrugged, letting him go, “Broken nose but I’m fine. I’ll heal in a month, tops. Besides I think it gives me a dangerous look.” He looked at Maureen, “Am I right? Devil-may-care and that kinda shit?”

Maureen rolled her eyes and she put a hand on Reese’s shoulder. “Glad to have you back. We were worried.” Maureen’s eyes were searching his face as she talked. As ever, she could see through him better than the other two.

Reese nodded, “Yeah, I get it. But it’s all okay. Doc said I was good to go, except I’m weak and dehydrated.”

“Dehydrated?” Maureen’s eyebrows knitted. “Didn’t they give you any water?”

“Yeah yeah, I’ve just been on the move for a while. Trying to get my sea-legs back.”

“Here.” Jaime unhooked a small flask from her belt. “My new roommate gave me this. There’s a well you can fill up at later if you want.” Reese hesitated but with Maureen’s eyes on him he took the flask, taking a sip. The water was cool but there wasn’t much in it. Jaime must have had it most of the day.

“Where did Chris put you?” Eli asked him when he was finished.

“Thirteen.”

Eli nodded, looking at Maureen. “I’m in twenty-four, Maureen’s in twenty-six so we’re pretty close. Miles gave us a run-down of the usual morning schedule so we can go over that later.”

 “Not right now though- There’s an ‘event’ going on.” Maureen told him, “In the main room near the furnace. We’re not required to attend but I hear we might get some points for observance.”

“What kind of event?”

“A wedding.”

Jaime rolled her eyes, “Do we really have to go? We don’t know anyone here.”

“Well it’ll be good to see some new faces. Help us get introduced to everyone without having to do it during work hours.” Eli pointed out, pushing up his glasses above the nose splint.

“Who’s wedding is it?”

“Negan’s, I hear.”

Reese couldn’t help snorting. “ _That_ ,” Jaime said, “Is what I said.”

Maureen gave her a look. “It’ll do some good for him to see we want to be a part of everything here. Not just working for points. Show him that we want to be a part of the community. Especially _you_.”

Jaime scrunched up her face and looked away from Maureen but Reese could see she had hit a nerve.

“Maureen’s right, Jaime.” Eli put a hand to her back, rubbing it, “We can stand at the back if you want.”

“C’mon,” Maureen turned, starting to walk toward a crowd forming, “Looks like it’s about to start.”

“Hey,” Reese asked Eli as they trailed behind her and Jaime, “Do you know who’s gonna be marrying him?”

Eli nodded, “Not personally but I’ve heard people talking about it all day.” He squinted in thought, “I think her name is Delilah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been like four months but let's just say it's been a loaded four months. For starters I moved, got a cat (this was the highlight she's a brat but completely adorable), had a mental breakdown in which I /finally/ started seeing a therapist after a good maybe six years of being mildly to moderate severely depressed, and now I'm taking medication for it which I don't quite feel the effects of but people who care about me have noticed that I'm changing and I am finding I am just a smidge more motivated which is why I was able to put out this chapter.
> 
> I had already written this chapter and then recently went through a MAJOR overhaul of what I want this story to be. So it might seem a bit rough, I did edit the shit out of it but like I said I rewrote most of it. This chapter is very long for several reasons  
> 1) We're finally meeting new minor characters- also the introduction of Delilah who I wanted to do true justice for because I have a lot more plans for her than 'Negan's new wife who Reese has a crush on'.  
> 2) Out of all my mains, Reese was the one left behind in the first three chapters. I just... didn't know what I wanted to do for him, he mostly completed the group. But I've done a lot of thinking about his character and he's much different from what I originally envisioned (and like my other OC's I love him a lot and he deserved more than just being the set completer).  
> 3) The beginning part was longer and I cut a lot of it but I really wanted to do the voicemails. It still ended up being pretty long but it gives me the kick in the pants to make Maureen's chapter longer... and also to do some rewrites on the first three.
> 
> So if you're still reading I really do appreciate you waiting for me to update. Fifth chapter is close to being done but then I gotta edit it. But hopefully I'll get it done before the end of the month.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Thank you for reading!


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